Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks: Player props, injury report and prediction | NBA
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New York Knicks raise their first championship banner since 1973 before facing a rebuilt Philadelphia 76ers side fronted by new signing LeBron James at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, in the headline fixture of an Opening Night tripleheader.
The occasion carries real edge since these Knicks eliminated that 76ers team with a four-game sweep in last season's East semi-finals, a series New York went on to finish as Eastern champions and, eventually, NBA champions over San Antonio.
Form and outlook
Form Guide
Last 5 (2025-26 play-offs)
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Tale of the Tape
Philadelphia 76ersNew York Knicks
Philadelphia go into the opener having lost four straight competitive matches to the Knicks, all in that May sweep, and the gap in last season's underlying numbers was stark since the NBA champions posted a +6.4 net rating to the 76ers' -0.1.
That 76ers roster no longer really exists, though, since Philadelphia sent Paul George to Boston in a three-team deal to land Jaylen Brown, then added LeBron James as a free agent in July.
New York's core, by contrast, is almost unchanged from the team that beat San Antonio in five games in June, with Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns all back after that title run.
The one subtraction of note is center Mitchell Robinson, who left for Boston in free agency, trimming New York's rim-protecting depth behind Towns even as the rest of the rotation stayed intact.
Both sides have been shaky shooting the ball in preseason, Philadelphia making just 27.8% of threes across four games and New York only 25.3% across five, numbers so far off either team's regular-season norm that they read as early rust rather than a real trend.
How that settles matters for a conference that reshuffles every summer, and how the regular season builds toward playoff seeding means a slow start for either team could cost home-court advantage come spring.
On paper, the Knicks possess the better rested, more cohesive group, and that is before factoring in the emotional lift of raising a championship banner in front of their own crowd.
Team news and rotations
Injury Report
Philadelphia 76ers
Center depth is Philadelphia's biggest early-season worry since Hukporti's Achilles injury, suffered in the preseason opener against this same opponent, is season-ending and leaves Joel Embiid with a thinner safety net behind him.
Embiid himself played just 38 games last season and only two in preseason as his minutes are managed, so his workload through the first few weeks is worth tracking regardless of what the injury report says on game night.
LeBron James arrives having sat out Philadelphia's preseason opener for rest before making his 76ers debut, and at 40 years old how long he intends to keep playing will shadow every update on his workload this season, even on opening night.
New York's only real doubt is Hart's ankle, and with Miles McBride and Landry Shamet both in reserve, a late scratch would not meaningfully disrupt a rotation that barely changed from the title-winning group.
Key matchups
Key Matchups
Brunson is the reigning Finals MVP running an unchanged title offence, while Maxey now has to share the ball with Brown, James and Embiid, so his usage rate this season is the one to watch.
Embiid's scoring rate outstrips Towns's when healthy, but he played only 38 games last season, and New York's superior rebounding number hints at where second-chance points could decide a close night.
Player props
Player Props to Watch
Tyrese Maxey
Tyrese Maxey
Tyrese MaxeyPHI
Maxey is no longer Philadelphia's lone shot-creator with Brown, James and Embiid all drawing touches, and his preseason scoring dropped sharply as that new pecking order took shape.
Jalen BrunsonNYK
Finals MVPs tend to show up for banner nights, and Brunson faces a 76ers defence still bedding in several new faces, the kind of matchup he punished regularly last season.
Karl-Anthony TownsNYK
Towns's scoring dipped as Brunson and Anunoby carried New York's preseason offence, and Embiid gives him a genuinely physical test at the rim on opening night.
Head-to-head
Season Series · regular season, playoffs and preseason
New York's dominance of this fixture last season was total by the end, closing out the semi-final sweep with a 30-point blowout after Philadelphia had actually won two of the four regular-season meetings.
Both rosters look different enough now that last season's results carry only narrative weight rather than predictive value, though the manner of that sweep, four straight losses by an average of 22 points, still says plenty about where the gap stood before this summer's rebuild.
The two sides' only meeting since has gone the other way, Philadelphia routing New York 120-97 in their preseason opener on October 5, though that game is most notable for Ariel Hukporti's season-ending Achilles injury rather than any real form reading, since both benches were still finding their new-look rotations.
Philadelphia's two competitive wins both came at Madison Square Garden before the Knicks found their best form, a reminder that the version of New York facing them tonight, freshly crowned and largely unchanged, is a sharper proposition than the one they beat twice last winter.
Tips and prediction
Knicks -5.5
New York's plus-6.4 net rating and largely intact title roster should outweigh any banner-night jitters against a 76ers side still learning each other.
Both teams shot poorly from three in preseason and opening-night rotations are rarely the most fluent of the year, which tends to drag the pace down.
A more crowded 76ers attack means fewer touches for Maxey than his season average suggests.
The reigning Finals MVP against a 76ers defence still finding its shape is a favourable spot.
Knicks -5.5 + Under 231.5 points
A comfortable, defensively led home win fits both the spread and total read above.
Score Prediction
New York Knicks 116-106 Philadelphia 76ers
Predicted margin: 10 points · Predicted total: 222
None of this is to say Philadelphia's new pieces cannot cause problems, since Brown, James and Embiid are all capable of a big individual night, but cohesion usually beats talent on paper in an opener.
New York enter healthier, more settled and with far more recent winning basketball behind them, and that should be enough to see off a 76ers side still working out its rotation.